Cement block machine



w. c. PHILLIPS, SR, ETAL 2,477,266

CEMENT BLOCK MACHINE July 26, 1949.

Filed Aug. 2, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

IN VEN TORS W- C. PHILLIPS. JR.

ATTORNEY W. C. PHILLIPS. SR,

w. c. PHILLIPS; SR, EIY'AL 7, 6

July 26, 1949.

' CEMENT BLOCK MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1946 FIG- 2 INVENTORS W. C- PHILLIPS, SR. W C. PHILLIPS. JR.

ATTORNEY July 26, 1949. w. c. PHILLIPS, 5R; EI'AL 2 4 CEMENT BLOCK MACHINE Filed Aug. 2. 1946 3 SheetsSheet 3 FIG- 5 FIG. 6

FIG- 4 FIG 7 INVENTORS w. c. PHILLIPS. SR. w. c PHILLIPSJR.

ATTORNEY Patented July 26, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CEMENT BLOCK MACHINE Application August 2, 1946, Serial No. 687,918

This invention relates to improvements in method and apparatus for manufacturing building components and particularly to improved apparatus for manufacturing building blocks from plastic material such as concrete, cinder aggreate, etc.

Building blocks of concrete, frequently referred to in the industry as cement blocks have been used for a number of years in building construction. It has been customary to provide a large number of stationary molds covering a large ground area, and pour concrete mixture into these molds. The molds are provided with removable portions and after the concrete has hardened the blocks are freed by loosening the removable mold portions and the blocks are h n removed from the molds. After the blocks have been removed the empty molds may be refilled. .A number of molds can be provided such that a predetermined number of empty molds are available for each days production of blocks.

This method hasproved unsatisfactory because of the large amount of manual labor required, the time involved, and the excessive amount of necessary equipment.

Various attempts have been made to improve the above-outlined method to reduce the amount of manual labor, time and equipment.

Power driven machines for form-ing such blocks of plastic material have been suggested to speed up the process and reduce the amount of equipment and manual labor required but none of these previously suggested devices has been satisfactory or met with any important degree of commercial success.

This lackof commercial success has been caused by several factors among whi hhave bee imperfect mechanical design resulting in operational difiiculties and frequent breakage, .the formation'of imperfect blocks, diihclllty in removing the blocks from the molds, and in handling the blocks while in a soft condition immediately after their removal from the molds.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved block'forrning apparatus which is rapid in operation, forms substantially perfect blocks, removes the blocks from the molds Without material infi l- 3 to the blocks, supports the blocks after removal from the molds and while still in a soft condition so that they do not break or materially change their shape, which is fully automatic in operation and not subject to excessive breakdowns or operational dimeulties,

.A further object resides in the Provision of an 1 Claim. (Cl. 99)

' blocks w erein the blocks are ap d y mo ded d improved method for manufacturing building tamped to a solid condition and then quickly removed from the molds so that the molds can be continuously used without the necessity of reta n n t e ocks in the mo s unti they have set up to a firm or hard condition.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of an improved block forming apparatus illustrative of the invent tion, certain portions being broken away and shown in section to better illustrate the construction thereof;

Fig. 2, an end elevational View of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; t

Fi n cvational v of a d i e s aft and shaft arried pa t of t e appa atus;

Fig. 4, an end elevational view of a separate block mold;

Fiea p plan view f the mold sh wn Fig. 4;

Fig. 6, a vertical sectional View on the line fia-lj of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7, a perspective view of a removable mold bottom or pallet; and

Fig. 8, a sectional view of a mold and block at the time the block is ejected from the mold and transferred to an unloading conveyor.

With continued reference to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the apparatus com prises a base or support including a pair of horizontal beams ill and II, which may be formed of standard structural iron members, such as I- beams a-nd'suitable support or foundation membersas indicated at I2, I3 and M. In the arrangement illustrated, there are four supporting or foundation members but any number desired may be used without in any way exceeding the scope of the invention. 7

The members ill and II carry on their upper surfaces four pillow blocks, three of which are indicated at l5, l6 and IT, which provide end bearings for two transverse shafts l8 and 19.

Referring to Fig. 3, the shaft I8 has fixedthereon a pair of polygonal disc .or wheel 'mem-, bers 2.0 and 2! disposed at substantiall equal distances from the mid-length position of the shaft and a drive pulley 22. Each Wheel or disc member includes a central boss or sleeve. 23 and 24, fixed to the shaft l8 and secured at one end to the corresponding olygonal portion of the Wh e member. The drive pulley :22 be a multiple v-bclt pulley connected by y-belt 2:5

3 with a corresponding pulley 26 on the shaft of a driving motor 21.

The shaft i 9 carries two polygonal wheel or disc members similar to the members 20 and 21, one of the wheel members on shaft i 9 being indicated at 28 in Fig. 1. An endless track or belt, generally indicated at 3B, of pivotally interconnected molds is mounted on the shaft carried wheel or disc members so that when the shaft I8 is driven the interconnected molds are carried around the wheel members on the two shafts continuously.

While the molds may be shaped and dimensioned to provide blocks of any desired size and shape the molds illustrated are especially arranged to provide standard building blocks known in the industry as 8" x 8" x 16" blocks. Such blocks are hollow, having two openings or apertures therethrough, and comprise side and end walls and a center wall between the two openings, the wall thickness being approximately 1 4 The mold may be conveniently formed from two pieces of channel iron 3| and 32 of 8" depth spaced apart the width of the block with end cover plates 33 and 34 secured to the end portions of the channel irons. Suitable cross members or straps, as indicated at 35 and 36, extend across the bottom of the mold and are secured at their ends to the bottom flanges of the channel irons and these straps support a pair of hollow core members 3? and 38. A pair of plate members 39 and ii! are fixed at their upper ends to the bottom of the mold and depend from the mold, one at each end thereof and are provided with elongated longitudinal slots M and 42. Slidable plates 53 and 44 are positioned just inside the plates 39 and 40 respectively and have at their upper ends straight edge portions which bear against the channel members located at the opposite sides of the mold. A bar or shaft 45 extends through the plates as and 4 3 and extends into the slots ll and 42 in the fixed plates 39 and 49. This bar carries a pair of rollers 46 and 4? located one adjacent each plate 43 and 44.

A pair of links 48 and 49 are secured to the mold, one at each end thereof, and these links have apertured end portions, as indicated at 50 and for the link 49, for attachment to connecting bars or pins. Adjacent ends of the links on two adjacent molds are secured together by a pivot bar or pin, as indicated at 52 in Figs. 1 and 5. When the pivot bars are all in place pivotally connecting adjacent ends of links attached to consecutively adjacent molds the molds constitute a continuous track or belt, as is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. This belt is supported upon and moved by the polygonal disc members mounted on the shafts l8 and i9.

When the mold is in condition to receive a charge of plastic material to form a block the movable pallet 53 is in place to provide a removable bottom for the mold. This pallet is a rectangular member of suitable material, such as quarter inch sheet iron, and is provided with apertures which pass over the cores 3'! and 38. The pallet is supported on the core supporting straps and its end portions rest upon the slidable plates 43 and M so that when the plates 43 and 44 are moved upwardly through the mold the pallet will be raised and will be ejected from the mold along with the formed block, the pallet thus providing a base or foundation supporting the block until it has completely hardened.

Portland cement concrete, or other plastic material, is fed to the pparat from a. suitable 4 mixer, not illustrated, by means of a conveyor 55 located above and forwardly of the apparatus. The conveyor discharges the material into a hopper 56 having an inclined wall 51 extendin from the conveyor to the loading point at which the material is fed into the molds. A vibratory wall 58 is disposed immediately above the loading point and carries on its upper surface an electromagnetic Vibrator 59 the operation of which causes the plastic material to flow from the hopper into the molds as the molds reach a position below the wall 58. The vibrator is located in a chamber 60 at the rear of the hopper 5B and a chamber 6| immediately to the rear of the chamber til encloses a mechanical tamper. This tamper may comprise a reciprocable piston 62 connected by suitable link members 63 with a crank shaft iii and driven from a convenient source of power through suitable drive means which may include a belt pulley 65. A worm or gear drive, a chain drive, or other suitable driving means may be substituted for the belt pulley without in any way exceeding the scope of the invention.

As the molds pass along beneath the wall 58 and the tamper they are completely filled with the plastic material and this material is tamped to a substantially solid condition so that substantially all of the air pockets and bubbles are eliminated and some of the water in the mixture may also be forced out. Incidentally, the concrete mix fed from the conveyor 55 is in a relatively dry condition so that there is as little excess water as possible to be eliminated'by subsequent evaporation.

The molds under the vibrator and tamper are supported by the forward end of a track 66 supported from the base members In and I l by suitable stands or brackets 61, 68 and 69. The portion of the track immediately below the vibrator and tamper and extending between the brackets 6i and G8 is substantially level so that there is no tendency to lift the blocks during the filling and tamping steps. As the molds pass from under the tamper they pass by the lower edge of a wiping blade 18' which levels off the top of the material in the molds.

The portion of the track 66 past the standard 68 is inclined upwardly. The rollers 46 and 4'! of each mold ride on the track 66 and as they reach the upwardly inclined portion of the track they are forced upwardly. This lifts the slidable plate members 43 and 44 and the pallet 53 which in turn moves the block material upwardly relative to the mold. By the time a mold has reached a vertical plane including the axis of rear shaft l9 which substantially coincides with the rearward end of the track member, as shown in Fig. 1, the cast block and the pallet upon which it rests have been lifted to a position above the upper edge of the corresponding mold, as is clearly i1- lustrated in Fig. 8. As the mold progresses to the rearward end of the track member the pallet 53 is disposed upon the upper surface of a belt conveyor 1] which conveyor moves the blocks to a location from which they are transferred to suitable drying racks. The blocks are permitted to stand in their racks overnight until the setting up process is complete. The following day the pellets are removed from the bottoms of the blocks and the blocks are transferred to a suitable storage area.

With the type of apparatus disclosed, it has been found possible to-operate the mold belt or bucket chain'at a speed of approximately 20 feet per minute. As the total width of the molds or buckets does not exceed 12" the apparatus is capable of forming at least 20 blocks per minute. By providing the conveyor ll of sufiicient length, the blocks are easily handled and removed from the conveyor to suitable drying racks as rapidly as they are formed. When the pallets are removed from the hardened blocks they are returned to the front end of the apparatus for reuse and are dropped into the molds or buckets as the molds approach the top sides of the wheel members 20 and 2| before they reach the bottom of the hopper 56. While a number of pallets corresponding to the number of blocks produced in a day are necessary, the improved method requires only 28 molds to produce blocks at the above indicated rate of 20 per minute and the pallets are simple and inexpensive elements which can be produced in large quantities at nominal expense. The use of the removable pallets supporting the bottoms of the cast blocks permits the rapid ejection of the blocks from the molds and subsequent handling of the blocks before they become fully hardened.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In apparatus for casting building blocks from plastic material of the type wherein a plurality of molds are connected in a cyclic path for successive movement to a filling station and then to an ejecting station, a pair of spaced sprocket wheels, a pair of continuous chains formed of links extending about the wheels in spaced parallel relation, said chains having an upper horizontal portion, the links in said chains being transversely aligned, mold buckets mounted between pairs of aligned links and being supported thereby, each of said buckets having opposed side and end walls and internal cores blocking out portions of the bucket cavity, an apertured pallet positioned in the bucket and forming a removable bottom therefor, depending slotted plates below the links,

slidable plates mounted adjacent the side walls of the buckets and adapted, upon upward movement, to engage the pallet and eject the same from the bucket, a cross bar between the depending plates connected to the slidable plates, rollers on the cross bar, a cam track mounted between the wheels and having a substantially horizontal portion adjacent one wheel merging into an upwardly inclined portion terminating adjacent the opposite wheel, said track being engaged by said rollers as the links and buckets move in a substantially horizontal path from the first named to said last named opposite wheel, a, plastic material feeder and tamper mounted above the buckets and links adjacent the first named wheel and the horizontal portion of the cam track, thereby providing means for filling the buckets, a take-off conveyor of less width than the distance between the slidable plates mounted adjacent the opposite wheel at substantially the elevation of the tops of the buckets, the inner extremity of said conveyor being positioned within the paths of movement of said plates, said cam track cooperating with said rollers and slidable plates to eject both the mold contents and pallet and deposit the same upon the inner extremity of said take-off conveyor.

WILLIAM C. PHILLIPS, SR. WILLIAM C. PHILLIPS, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the tile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 949,886 Dunton Feb. 22 1910 1,184,648 Horton May 23, 1916 1,534,361 Craig Apr. 21, 1925 1,545,376 Weatherby July 7, 1925 1,551,646 Davidson Sept. 1, 1925 1,559,200 Straight Oct. 27, 1925 1,565,575 Levy Dec. 15, 1925 1,782,413 Dietrichs Nov. 25, 1930 1,837,529 Clifiord Dec. 22, 1931 2,225,015 Lebelle Dec. 17, 1940 

